The addition of a seventh division was approved by the OHSAA’s Board of Directors by a 6-3 vote Thursday.
The plan will place the top 10 percent of schools based on enrollment in Division I, with the remaining 644 schools divided evenly among the next six divisions. This will leave 72 schools in Division I with the other six divisions averaging about 108 schools.
Each of the seven divisions will continue to qualify 32 teams to the tournament. Currently, the six OHSAA football divisions are comprised of an average of 120 schools per division.
The plan for adopting an additional division was in response to a concern by some OHSAA member schools about the enrollment disparity that exists in Division I, where the current range is 494 males at the lower end of the division to 1,164 at the top.
Based on current enrollment data, the cutoff between Divisions I and II would increase to 600 males. Committee meetings took place to address the issue, and the committee recommended the seventh division.
A separate committee, comprised of OHSAA board and staff members, school administrators and officers of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association, will be formed to finalize the details of this plan. Among the details to be determined are adjustments to the Harbin Computer Ratings with the addition of another division; regional breakdowns and assignments for Division I, and dates in which specific divisions will play their tournament games, including logistics of an additional state tournament.
Zanesville coach Chad Grandstaff said smaller Division I teams will benefit the most.
“I don’t have all the facts yet, but it definitely provides a great opportunity for those schools because there was a huge disparity of in terms of enrollment from the smallest (Division I) to the biggest,” Grandstaff said. “It will move some of us. Based on the current numbers we would be Division III, but that could all change by 2013. Division II and III, there are great teams in both of those. It’s not really an advantage or disadvantage.”
Approval of an “athletic count” formula, which is included within a competitive balance proposal that OHSAA member school principals will vote on during the annual referendum process that will occur between May 1 and 15, also would be factored in before placing schools into their respective divisions.
The next two-year cycle for reassigning schools to tournament divisions begins in the fall of 2013.
“It’s definitely going to place schools in different divisions,” Crooksville athletic director David Rupe said. “Depending on how the competitive balance issue is voted on, and with the new figures, it could shake up a lot of teams in our area as far as what division they might fall in.”
Crooksville is one of 10 area teams that could see a division change. As the figures stand today, all but Sheridan would drop. That would mean Sheridan, Tri-Valley and Zanesville all would join Division III.
“There is going to be more opportunity for more schools and more kids to experience the state playoffs that a lot of districts won’t normally see,” Rupe said. “That’s good for the state of Ohio.”
Grandstaff agreed.
“Division I is going to benefit the most,” Grandstaff said. “You get a lot of those teams that go 8-2 and finish 13th in their region, now those teams are to make the playoffs and get to experience that. That’s great for those communities.”
This is the first time the OHSAA has expanded the number of football tournament divisions since 1994, when a sixth division was added. Five years later, the number of tournament qualifiers in each division expanded from 16 to 32. When the tournament first began in 1972, there were three football tournament divisions, and expansion to five divisions occurred in 1980.
